Friday, May 29, 2009

A tulip from my yard this spring. This tulip was suppose to be blue. Does it look blue to you? We brought home tulip bulbs from Amsterdam last fall. All winter I was so excited to see a blue tulip. I am not sure what happened, but I learned to love the tulips anyway.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The final afternoon tea on our tea road trip was enjoyed on Mother's Day. What a perfect finale to a perfect trip to have tea at Crown and Crumpet in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square. On this special occasion they served champagne or the best sparkling tea with the afternoon delicacies.

The "English Tea Salon" was a happy place with lots of color and light.It was full of moms and daughters, husbands and wives. There were the cutest little girls with their grandmothers. It was a place of joy on Mother's Day.

The sandwiches were Asparagus with Feta, Egg Salad, Salmon, and Cucumber.

The scones were served with clotted cream and jam.

The sweets were Chocolate dipped Strawberries, Vanilla Cupcakes, Cream Tarts with Berries, and the Yellow Hats, which were a cookie with cake on top.

Each of the mothers was given a gift and there was a thank you envelope with a teabag enclosed.

As we lifted our cup to sip tea there was a quote underneath on the saucer - "Remember the tea kettle-it is always up to it's neck in hot water, yet it still sings!" It was truly a Celebration of a trip well enjoyed.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Getty Villa sits on the bluff looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The picture was taken from a friend's deck in Malibu, California. We were on our way up the California coast, had breakfast with my friend, then off to the Getty Villa. The Getty Villa is a beautiful museum which holds part of the Getty art collection.

The grounds of the Getty Villa, looking back on the main building that houses the art collection.

Arriving early it was so peaceful walking around the grounds and down this corridor.

Inside were many Greek gods and goddesses just waiting to say hello.

It was fun being a tourist for the day and I would highly recommend visiting the Getty Villa when you visit Southern California.

The picture was taken in my sister's apple orchard, which originally belonged to our grandfather. My grandfather always had beehives in the orchard; so the beehives reminded me of my grandfather too. The thermos was grandpa's and he carried a lunch pail much like the one you see.

There always were Franciscan apple plates in the family. The cookies are Oatmeal Apple, a recipe developed by my aunt. This tea table was set in rememberance.

Happy Memorial Day! Remember those that have gone before us and remember those that have fought for the country that you live in.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Lupins always remind me of fields of lupins I once walked through on Mt.Cook in New Zealand. We saw the typical blue ones along the road, but also came across yellow ones too.

The old graveyard had California poppies.

Apple blossoms in Sebastopol. I took many pictures of the blossoms on the ranch that use to belong to my grandfather, then aunt and uncle. I will share more blossoms another day.

Beautiful roses at a winery we stopped at in Sonoma, California.

Enjoy the flowers today and this weekend. Celebrate Memorial weekend by remembering those that have gone before us. The grave yard is where my mother is buried. It brought me joy to leave a rose on her grave in remembrance. The apple blossoms are for remembrance of my special grandfather. Celebrate your remembrances with flowers. Pick a pretty bouquet and remember.

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Don't forget to leave comments if you want to be entered in the drawing I mentioned on Tuesday.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sharing tea with a special tea friend made the visit even more special. We each had the Isabelle, which included scones, a very yummy Baked Potato Soup, tea sandwiches, and cookies. I would love the recipe for the soup, it was so good.

What French tea is not complete without a macaron on the plate. There was also an almond cookie and chocolate madeleine. This morning as I am sharing with you I am sipping the tea I had at Paris in a Cup. It is Le France from the Dammann company, which I first discovered and enjoyed at a tearoom in Paris. It brings back memories of that trip and now of visiting Paris in a Cup.

Several friends had told me about Paris in a Cup; so it was on my list of teashops to visit. Paris in a Cup feels exactly like stepping into a Parisian tearoom. Cheryl, the owner, has done a great job researching and carrying out the ambiance. At the back of this picture you can see the wonderful tea bar, where the tea was made. I was impressed with the beauty of the tearoom, gift shop, and even the bathroom. Yes, I took a picture in the bathroom, but it didn't want to load today. I will share another day.

Paris in a Cup is located in the sweet downtown of Orange. There are several antique shops to visit in the surrounding area. It was fun to browse the shops. There was an old hardware store that had just about everything imaginable in vintage and antique fixtures. I bought a roll of old wallpaper for $2. Now I just need to decide what I want to do with it. So if you ever find yourself in the area of Orange, California; go for tea at Paris in a Cup and do a little exploring too.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Shortly after arriving in Las Vegas we met friends, Bob and Carol Sims, from the Tea Embassy in Austin, Texas for afternoon tea at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. What a lovely way to begin our adventure at the World Tea Expo. The picture is of me on the left and Carol.

Each tea had their special touches and each tea was wonderful.

The sandwiches were a salmon roll, stacked sandwich on top had cucumber in it, chicken salad in small ice cream cone (very cute and great idea), and egg salad.

We each had our own individual teapot. My teapot held a nicely brewed Black Currant Tea.

It always amazes me how different the scone recipes are in each tea venue. There must be thousands of different scone recipes and most of the them I have loved.

The desserts were very good. My favorite was the orange cream at the top left. It was very light with a nice citrus taste. I don't remember what the cake was at top, but to the right was a lemon tart, in the middle was a pistachio cream with large strawberry tart, and at the front with a lovely chocolate cream tart on a chocolate cookie.

My second afternoon tea of our tea road trip. A very special way to share with friends.

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Don't forget to leave comments for the give-away mentioned yesterday. I will also be including some samples of tea picked up at the World Tea Expo. Yes, I have the same charm for myself. I would not give away my favorite charm without having one for myself.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The above charm is one of my favorites from Shiny Stuff, which is a popular booth at the World Tea Expo each year. As a gift from my visit to the World Tea Expo and my tea road trip I have this silver charm to give away. A name will be drawn on Sunday and announced on Monday. Just leave your comments this week on Delights of the Heart and you will be entered into the drawing. The picture makes it look large, but it really is about 3/8" tall.

Monday, May 18, 2009

This is Lin's Ceramic Studio shop in Taipei, Taiwan. I would love to visit there someday.

At the World Tea Expo I purchased two tea sets from Lin's Ceramic Studio of Taiwan. The first set was a beautiful black ceramic set. It is very similar to the set a friend sent me last year as a gift. Each piece feels so smooth in the hands and the teapot and pouring pot pour so nicely.

The teapot sits in a dish; so you can pour hot water over the teapot to warm it.

The second set is porcelain and has a pretty lily on the side. It also feels nice in the hands and pours so neatly.

Each set has 6 cups and the teapots have strainers in the pot to keep the tea leaves from coming through the spout. If you have never used an Asian small teaset, they are great for sharing small sips of tea with friends and quite the conversation pieces when you pull out a small teaset from your bag. You just put the loose leaves into the teapot, filling about 1/3 full of leaves, steep for the desired amount of time, pour into the pouring pot, then serve. Using the pouring pot allows for everyone tasting to taste the same exact taste. I use these sets primarily for oolong teas, but have steep a green tea also in them. If using a black tea, I would adjust the amount of tea placed in the teapot.

Friday, May 15, 2009

A delightful tearoom in a fruit growing community, not far from Sacramento. The tearoom was just across the street from the old packing house, which now houses an antique shop and restaurant. Amy Lawrence is the owner of the shop. I had the opportunity to chat with her at the tea expo where she was promoting her tea cookbooks. She puts out a cookbook each year of the recipes served in the tearoom that year. This year she was also promoting a new cookbook for teashops.

An inside view of the tearoom. Our full afternoon tea started with a Black Forest Ham Quiche and Sweet Pea Cashew Salad. The salad was really yummy!The tea sandwiches were a Sesame Chicken Salad, Sundried Tomato with Cucumbers, and Pineapple Pecan Sandwiches.

By the time we got to the desserts we were full. There was a Mandarin Cobbler, Chocolate Oatmeal Delight Bar, and Cherry Shortbread Cookie.

There were also Blackberry and Strawberry scones. They were very large and moist, and very good.

The plates were decorated with fresh flowers, which was a very nice touch.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

My cousin has a dove nesting outside her kitchen window. I took a few pictures of her not knowing she had a new baby in the nest. A few minutes later a little head popped up to be fed. What a sweet mom and baby. I thought she fit the perfect mom for Mother's Day; so caring, watchful, and gentle with this new little one. Eventhough this is late in sharing, I thought you would enjoy the doves outside the kitchen window. Happy (Late) Mother's Day. Each day should be Mother's Day. I celebrated with mine family last evening.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

It was a joy to visit Susan Rios at her booth and see her new line of teaware. Doesn't the teaware make you feel happy? Glory International has done a great job of taking her illustrations and turning them into actual teapots and teacups.

The World Tea Expo brings many wonderful tea lovers together to share ideas and talk tea. For no other reason the World Tea Expo is worth attending.

The first evening we shared tea at the Four Seasons Hotel with friends Carol and Bob Sims of the Tea Embassy in Austin, Texas.

The second evening was a reception and awards ceremony for the tea expo. There were many awards given, but I think Rishi Tea walked away with many of the awards. They had a great booth and I was impressed with the teas I saw there. Marmalady's will be carrying their teas sometime in the future.

The third and final evening was a gathering for the West Coast Tea Business Association. That was exciting as it is a newly forming association and about 50 people were there from a variety of tea businesses. After the meeting we met in the suite of Devan Shaw for a time of getting acquainted.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The picture is of a gentleman from Taiwan giving a demonstration on rolling oolong tea. He kept working the tea, rolling it in the cloth until there was moisture in the tea, then he wrapped it in the same cloth until it was a very tight ball.

I was looking forward to meeting Lin Ceramics people from Taiwan, as I have a small tea set from their company. This was their first time at the tea expo. Their ceramics are very beautiful and on another day I will share what I came away with from their booth.

This was also the first year for The Whole Leaf to have a booth at the tea expo. If there was a vote on the most peaceful booth, it would be theirs. They served lovely oolong teas. The gentleman in the green tee shirt sat their for 3 afternoons just serving tea to small groups. I enjoyed a lovely Jade Oolong here.

This is Jane at Tea Beyond. She had the most beautiful flower teas. This was her first time at the tea expo also. I hope in the future to carry some of her flower teas on Marmalady's website.

Tomorrow I will show a few more pictures from the tea expo. I only took pictures of my favorites.

Overall, I enjoyed the tea expo. Attendance and vendor participation was definitely down. The attendees that I chatted with were trying to stay optimistic in a poor economy and many said they were willing to hang in there. The first day I enjoyed a class with Norwood Pratt called Romancing the Leaf. Norwood is a great story teller and he didn't disappoint us. He encouraged us to tell the myths and stories about tea because he said that is what people will remember. The second day I took a couple business related classes. The final day I took a class on publishing tea books from Babette Donaldson, Emma Lea books, and Amy Laurence, An Afternoon to Remember. Those of us that had attended three or more tea expos were honored this year with a lovely luncheon, free massage, and other small perks. John Harney shared his story with us in the luncheon. John is always entertaining.

There also was a tea master from Japan giving short tea ceremonies for small groups. I am not a big matcha fan, but getting to share tea with a tea master and sip tea out of 4oo year bowls was a real treat. If and when I figure out how to take pictures off my phone, I will share them.

The World Tea Expo for me is always a wonderful time of reconnecting with some tea friends and getting reinspired to share tea with others. More tomorrow.

About Me

Many things bring great delight to me: tea, gardens, flowers, outdoors, food, and friends that cross my path. These all make my heart sing with small chuckles, giggles, laughter, and tears. It is my desire to seek beauty all around me, have the heart of a wanderer, a storyteller.